Cleaning brush



N0v.zs,1939. l P. HDURUP 2,181,266

CLEANING BRUSH Fild June 2, 1938 Patented Nov. 28, '1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,181,266 CLEANING BRUSH Application June 2, 1938, Serial No. 211,348

4 Claims. (Cl. 271-12) This invention relates to a cleaning mechanism for an offset printing machine.

With stacks of sheets to be printed, and in particular envelopes, ne particles of dirt or other 5 foreign matter tend to collect von the sheet surfaces, which are readily picked up by the transfer blanket of an oset printing machine and upon continued occurrence, various undesirable effects in the printing result, as for instance where the particles adhere to the roll, spots in the printed area become apparent, and such foreign material as may eventually be carried over to the printing roll and doctor blade, may collect-and present unsightly lines or smears on the subject l5 matter. This difliculty is particularly present in the printing of envelopes. One reason is that particles of dried glue are present on the backs of envelopes where their edges are secured together. These particles are very fine andrequre a positive cleaning action to be removed and prevented from collecting on the blanket.A

Among the objects of the invention are means to provide cleaning of the surface of subject matter such as envelopes, cards, and` similar sheets, during the period in which said subject matter is passing from a stacked position to the printing members; to combine positive conveying action of the subject matter with such cleaning; to direct dirt or other foreign matter removed from the sheets away from the printing members; and generally to presenta simple, cheap, and efcient cleaning mechanism suitable for the purpose described and particularly suited to treatment of envelopes printed at high speeds.

i The invention consists in means for subjecting the surfaces of subject matter to friction, brushing, suction, blowing and the like.

In the drawing illustrating my invention:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved cleaning mechanism shown in association with a conveyor frame and stack holder for subject matter to be printed;

Fig. 2 is a cross section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detailed fragmentary plan view o1' modied guiding means for properly insuring passage of subject matter to be printed along the conveyor belts; and

Fig. 4 is a detailed fragmentary view in partial cross section further illustrating the modification shown in Fig. 3.

In the drawing, I0 indicates a frame in which are located conveyor belts II adapted to receive sheets of subject matter removed from a stack I2, in a stack holder I2a, by suction means I3 as described and claimed in my co-pending application Ser. No. 168,853, iiled October 14, 1937. The conveyor belts carry the sheets of subject 6 matter under a guiding roll I4, and then through the cleaning mechanism illustrated at the lefthand side of Fig. 1, and finally .to offset printing means, not shown, occurring at a point beyond the cleaning mechanism. l0

The sheets of subject matter coming from the stack I2 are particularly illustrative of envelopes but are intended also to be generally exemplary of various types of sheets as cards, blotters and the like. 15 I5 denotes a shaft having its ends journaled in plate members I6 and I'I mounted on the frame I0 ahead of the guiding roller Il. Solidly iixed on shaft I5 is a brush I8 which may comprise any suitable bristle construction such as wire, hair, 20 and the like, and may be of lvarying degrees of stiffness as required by the sheet surface to be cleaned. The brush I 8 is also intended to be illustrative of various other types of cleaning means suitable for removing glue and other for' 25 eign substances from sheets of subject matter to be printed. For example, I may prefer to utilize friction cleaning rolls or suction devices capable of effecting the desired cleaning action f and any of the devices referred to are not re- 30 quired to be limited to the exact point of location -shown in the drawing but may occur at any suitable point between the release of the subject matter by the suction member I3 and its entering the printing members.

As indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, brush I8 is driven in a counter clockwise direction by some suitable means as for instance a puliey I9 and belt 20. The other end of belt 20 may be associated with some rotating part of the conveyor mechanism as 40 the roll 2l for conveyor belts Il.

To more properlyY present an envelope 25 to the cleaning action of the brush I8 and to continue its advance along the belts at high speeds and against the action of the brush, it may be 45 desirable to provide some contacting surface other than the conveyor belts II and for such a purpose I have located rollers 22 and 23 on a shaft 24 mounted through frame I0. As may be noted in Figs. 1 and 2, the rolls occur directly un- 50 der the brush I8 and somewhat centrally thereof. The rolls 22 and 23 are also driven in a-counter clockwise direction by some convenient means as for instance belt 26 passing over roll 2| already referred to. In addition tothe rolls, 65

there has been provided a supporting plate 21 which is located just under the belts Il and extends in front and in back of the brush and is cut out to permit peripheral portions of rolls 22 and 23 to extend upwardly therethrough.

A further advantage in the plate 21 relates to the operation of the machine. As previously stated the subject matter of the present invention is being used in connectionvwith high speed printing operations and in particular with high speed printing on the backs of envelopes where the use of grippers is not relied on. It is in the nature of envelopes which have several glued together edges and one free glued flap that curling' and upturning of edges will be present. The action of the particular cleaning means here illustrated, the brush I8, may tend to further develop upturning oi.' edges with the result that clogging and break-down of operation takes place. To insure against such possible action of the envelopes or other subject matter some means of maintaining the envelope in a at state is desirable and with whatever means may be employed the plate 21 cooperates to overcome such diiiiculty.

As one example of the means referred to. I have shown in Fig. 1 resilient spring members 28 having one end flxed to and supported by a bar 29 occurring transversely of the plates I6 and I1. The other ends may be curved around to a point just in front of the brush I8 and tend to maintain, the front edge of an envelope in a flat state against the plate 21.

In Figs. 3 and 4 I have shown a modification of means for maintaining subject matter atly against the plate 21. This modification comprises essentially a plurality of Wire members 30, of some suitable stiffness, as for instance piano wire, which are adapted to run through and beyond the brush I8 rwithout to any appreciable extent interfering with the cleaning action of the brush. Any suitable means of support may be resorted to as for example a bar 3| in which are received a plurality of keys 32 threadably engaged therewith and having the ends of the wire members wound around in such manner that these ends may be tightened or released as desired. The other ends of the Wire members 30 have been secured in a rod 33 having central slotted openings 34 for receiving the ends and these ends are xed by means of set screws 35 as illustrated.

To further maintain subject matter in a at state against the drag of the brush I8 as it passes over the rear edge of the subject matter, there has been provided floating rollers 36 having elongated slots 31 for being adjustably mounted on a shaft 38. The shaft 38 is received in the members I6 and I1 in elongated slots 39 and has been further provided with bent spring clips 40 which function to -resiliently maintainv the shaft and rolls in a depressed position.

In effecting the cleaning by the mechanism disclosed there may occur particles of dust'and dirt in the air which if allowed to contact the transfer blanket of the machine would be very undesirable. To guard against such a condition,there may be provided means of blowing such particles in a direction away from the transfer blanket and as one example of such means there is illustrated a bracket 42 carrying a tube 4I which is formed with openings for emitting blasts of compressed air from a source not shown, in the direction indicated in the drawing.

It will be seen that there is provided a simple, cheap and eflicient cleaning mechanism which adequately removes foreign matter and in particular glue on envelopes and this result is effected without lowering the rate of speed of operation and without creating clogging difficulties.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A cleaning mechanism for envelopes, cards and like materials to be printed comprising in combination a conveyor, a rotating body in said conveyor, supporting means for presenting the surface of said subject matter to the rotating body, means for maintaining the subject matter flatly against the said supporting means and driving means for facilitating advancement of said subject matter along said conveyor.

2,. A cleaning mechanism for envelopes, cards an'd like materials to be printed comprising in combination a conveyor, a brush mounted in said conveyor adapted to contact the surface of said subject matter to be printed and means comprising a plurality of wires extending through said brush for maintaining said subject matter atly against the conveyor.

3. A cleaning mechanism for envelopes, cards, and like materials comprising in combination 'a conveyor, a rotating brush transversely disposed in the conveyor for contacting the surface of said subject matter to be printed, a base in the conveyor for presenting subject matter against said brush, means for maintaining said subject matter flatly against said base, and driving rollers located below said brush and having a peripheral portion extending through said base to contact the subject matter passing between the brush and the said peripheral surface.

4. A cleaning mechanism for a printing machine comprising a conveyor for advancing subject matter to be printed in said machine, a base located adjacent said conveyor, a depression member for maintaining said subject matter flatly against said base While advancing on the conveyor, a brush rotating in a direction opposite to the movement of the conveyor, and rollers for maintaining the front end of said subject matter flat while thel brush is in contact with the rear end.

PAUL H. DURUP. 

